One day had gone by since last we ate; however, we had finally managed to find a suitable cave to accommodate us.

This would be the second night we were spending in the wild, and even before the darkness was upon us, we had to fight quite a few beasts.

The fire in the cave was finally lit, and we were undercover, cooking monkeys for dinner, and even though I expected their meat to suck, it revealed to be edible, decent even. Still, stealing a bite earned me Roana’s slapping on the back of my head.

"Learn to cook properly, if you want to eat before the others!"

She was really just mad at me, for I sucked really bad at it. So Roana was on cooking duty, Alistar cleaned the equipment and took care of our guest while he chose which of the Advanced Sub-Classes at his disposal he could Promote his Sub-Class to, and I was on the lookout.

I was about to listen to the last of the whispers related to Loki’s level up.

Loki has leveled up to 5.

Constitution + 1, Strength + 1, Willpower + 1.

Loki (Cub Golden Netherlion) (Titan) has earned 1565 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next level 1322/5000.

Loki (Cub Golden Netherlion) (Titan), Level 5 (1322/5000)

He was about to evolve, and I could see his golden frame about to glow with the light of the Sun.

Loki (Cub Golden Netherlion) (Titan), Level 5, is about to evolve into Juvenile Golden Netherlion (Titan). Choose the ability that fits you best.

Fading Dash:

a burst of speed that may be used to attack your target or escape. Ethereal while Dashing (based on Agility and Focus).

Agility + 5

Focus + 5

Ghastly Senses:

the ability to sense things that are immune to regular Perception; become more resistant to Ethereal attacks (based on Constitution and Perception).

Constitution + 5

Perception + 5

Mass Taunt:

roaring will draw all enemies toward you (based on Strength and Willpower).

Strength + 5

Willpower + 5

I could tell these were not the regular moves I saw on his evolved form, the Titan. But it was known that a Tamed monster grew much more powerful and specialized than one in the wild.

However, damn, I wanted to take them all. The little cub would already be a monster with all these abilities.

Instead, I was forced to choose. And it did not end there because choosing would set its path toward what kind of pet I wanted him to be.

There were choices to be made.

First things first, I had yet to see him use his Phase ability, but I knew what it did, and Fading Dash would be a little bit redundant for now. The only thing of notice was the added speed given by Dash. Like Faruq’s Skill, it boosted Agility and was based on Agility.

Still, unlike my movement Skill which was immensely more Shade consuming, Dash had a cooldown that was, once again, dependent on Agility.

So, I could skip that choice, and, having skipped the hardest choice, there only really remained one option for me.

I wanted a guardian, yes, but I was sick of expendable pets; I would not turn Loki into a Taunt escape-trigger that I would have to abandon.

No, I could kill my targets by myself and escape if I needed to. What I couldn’t do was protect myself from threats that my, although developed senses, failed to take notice of, like beasts gone fully Ethereal.

My choice was set, so I took Ghastly Senses for Loki.

However, when I did, a whisper told me something entirely unexpected, something that I knew did not regularly happen.

Do you wish to feed Crystals to the evolving Cub Golden Netherlion (Titan)? (Once you do, evolutions will require Crystals and higher forms of it.)

What were the whispers trying to say? If I wanted to evolve it again, I would have to feed him something more? Like Dark Crystals? But if so, what would be the bonus?

I focused on a yes, and another whisper asked me something else.

You may use from 1 to 5 Crystals; how many will you use to feed the evolution?

We gathered around eighteen Crystals and didn’t even collect them all; I guessed that it would only profit us if we used some of them to increase our collective power.

So I took them in my hands, instinctively brought them close to Loki, and he simply ate them.

The light started expanding from his body, and before it would become too bright, I brought him into the cave, where the light bathed the walls in white for a few seconds.

“What is going on?” asked Roana.

“He’s evolving!”

“Evolution doesn’t do that!” she answered.

“I have no idea!”

Although she might have seen much more evolutions than me thanks to her mother, she had no idea what was going on.

When the light receded, a much bigger Loki took his place.

The now Juvenile Netherlion was tall, roughly seventy centimeters at the withers, and looked at least one meter and a half long.

Loki has 5 Attribute points to place.

I Traced him and already knew how they would have to be placed given what choosing the Skill had done for him.

I split them up between Agility, Strength, and Focus for his Skills and the final Trace was something to be proud of for a Level 5 creature.

Loki (Juvenile Golden Netherlion), (Titan), Level 5 (1322/5000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 72%

Strength: Phantasmic State, Senses

Weaknesses: None

Abilities: Ghastly Senses, Phase

Agility: 5

Constitution: 10

Strength: 5

Focus: 5

Perception: 8

Willpower: 4

Finally, I recalled how many Soul fractions I needed to level up the Tamer Sub-Class.

Soul fractions for next Tamer level: 14822/28000.

There weren’t many. And although Loki could still not face creatures of level thirty and above on his own, he was not as defenseless anymore. He would be able to help me to level Tamer up.

“I have never seen an evolution do that,” said Aisha.

“I guess it’s because he was born with the help of Dark Crystals and from a Titan nonetheless."

“From a Titan?" Aisha intruded, "Wait, don’t tell me...”

“Yeah, that’s why the Titan was rampaging in the forest. We stole one of his children.”

“Unbelievable,” she couldn’t help but shake her head.

I started bonding with his new form and helped him get used to it while my eyes looked over the dark horizon.

“Alright,” Alistar said after a while. “I’ve chosen it,” he added, grinning. “Actually, it wasn’t that hard a choice. Anyway, you need to see this. Have you got the Tracer on you?” He asked me.

I shook my head; I had left it with Nova.

“There was one in the bags I took; did you forget already?” Said Ro. And damn, she was right.

I rummaged among the bags we had been carrying, and sure as the Abyss, it was there.

Alistar Migs

Class

Soldier Lv. 26

Con + 2, Str + 1

Sub-Class

SpearFisher Lv. 30

Strength + 3, Focus + 3, Per + 3, For + ☆

Attributes

Stats

Natural

Augments

Agility

10

Greaves (+5), Spear (+5)

Constitution

31 + 26

Armor (+25), Shield (+15)

Strength

13 + 4

Shield (+5), Spear (+25)

Focus

6 + 3

Perception

16 + 4

Willpower

16 + 4

Fortune

☆ + ☆ ☆

Soldier Skills

Name

Major

Minor

Passive

☆☆ Duress II - Constitution

(Max)

☆ Your scales take the hardness of metal

Your Bonus Constitution doubles

Constitution + 6

☆ Solar Regen

Brandish Spear - Strength

☆ Damage all enemies standing in the range of your attack

Double Strength while Piercing

Luck of the draw - Fortune

Fortune + ☆

SpearFisher Skills

Name

Major

Minor

Passive

Fisher Fortitude - Constitution

(Eligible for Promotion)

☆ Shade and cold are less effective on you

☆ Your Bonus Constitution doubles

Constitution + 3

Harpooneer’s Revenge - Focus

While using spears and bolts, Basic Focus is added to Strength

Follow the Flow - Perception

☆ Points out your target if it is moving

It’s easier to identify moving targets

A Waiting business - Willpower

★, ☆ While staying passive, your targets will be drawn to you

Willpower + 3

“You can evolve another Constitution Skill as well now? You are going to become an immovable object for Sun’s sake.”

“Yes, but my Bonus has been reduced? Don’t you see?”

I scoffed; he still had over fifty total points of it.

Also, his Focus permanently boosting his Strength while he used both his weapons, the spear and the arbalest, was really good.

Alistar was becoming the warrior he had said he would be.

The night would be long-drawn, and I would be guarding us through it. I could do it, although I needed at least three hours of sleep before we started moving again.

However, I did not only have to guard my team against incoming threats. I needed to hunt.

We needed the Stones, and I needed to not think about how many people I had killed in the last couple of weeks.

The guilt was weighing on me more than I thought possible.

I had killed many in the past while protecting the village, while protecting my sister, while protecting myself.

But the ease with which I had taken those people's lives in these past few weeks had shaken me through my very core.

When did it start becoming so easy? I had an answer for that, but how could I say it was related?

If I said to myself that having that strong contact with the Shade, having my life saved by the Shade, had turned me into a heartless monster, then I’d be wrong.

Because I was not heartless; I was not cold. But I simply enjoyed fighting that much more.

Be it the thrill of the battle, be it the anger I had been brooding ever since my parents left me for a stupid war, or be it whatever else it was... I was not the same person anymore. I had been reborn, and not externally, but internally.

While I thought that, my enhanced vision and subsequently Synesthesia picked out the sound of something trying to sneak past a boulder in front of us.

My eyes saw just a shadow, but my ears told me that the shadow was something rather big and dangerous.

I had to see better.

I looked up, then threw my knife up a big rock, transferring roughly thirty meters up, on a rock that seemed to have been put there exactly for me to perch upon.

My eyes saw what was hiding behind the boulder then, and the beast was ready to prowl.

When I Tracked and Traced it, I knew it would be an easy pick and offer Loki and me a good opportunity.

Panther-bear, Level 44 (58.967/440.000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 92%

Agility: 25

Constitution: 60

Strength: 48

Focus: 27

Perception: 36

Willpower: 40

Strength: Constitution, Strength

Weaknesses: None

Abilities: Night Mantle, Terror Gaze, Tough Hide, Vicious Claws

This terrifying night animal can smell its target from hundreds of meters in the distance. His Night Mantle offers it an easy way to hide in the shadows of the night, giving it the ability to not only become almost invisible but masking his scent and the heavy weight of its gait.

Stone Weight: 0.321Kg

Its stats were fantastic, and the beast would surely give an enormous amount of Soul fractions.

I knew I could hunt it down by myself; however, if I had tried to do so before I upgraded Trick Shot, I knew it wouldn't have been such an easy target.

Now, however, it was my time.

This hunter of the night had met the real Night Hunter.

The only problem was that I would have to abstain from using my Major Perk exploding factor. Although, as I had understood, the explosion power scaled with the object mass and Focus, right now, it did not offer me an outstanding power increase.

The penetrative power of one of my arrows boosted by its Minor Perk was more than enough to penetrate through the monster’s Tough Hide.

I created a plan in less than a second. With my movement abilities and with the blessing of the night, my skill set allowed me to cover almost any situation.

I quickly picked up a few of the uncountable number of pebbles littering the mountain field, placed quite a few in the open satchel I had at my waist, then took my aim.

I had plenty enough of the piercing arrows that every respectable Hunter would have; I had stolen them from my previous night’s targets.

Then aiming at the creature's shoulder, I shot. I didn’t even wait for the empowered projectile to hit before I threw a pebble in front of me; it flew right above the bear, remaining at roughly my same altitude.

Then I loaded my bow and transferred in mid-air, right above the Panther-bear; the dark-furred creature with a long tail and the body of a slim bear had received the previous arrow in its shoulder; it had gone halfway through the shoulder and was stuck in the middle of it.

The creature seemed to do its best not to produce any wailing sounds, but when, mid-flight, I released another arrow aimed at its other shoulder, the beast couldn’t help but release a cry of pain, although a brief one.

Before I fell too far down, I threw another pebble toward the ground, behind the bear.

When I transferred there, I rolled away to discharge the excessive momentum, then took my stance and released the third arrow; it perforated its right hind leg, making it kneel.

The monster was still ready to attack me, but I threw my pebble far to my left.

There was no need to roll away then; the very moment I appeared, I oriented myself and released the fourth arrow on the creature that had entirely lost sight of me. How could it have not? I had wholly disappeared from its view; there was no way it had followed my movements.

I shot another arrow at the creature, this time; it went through its left hind leg.

It dealt much more damage than the previous one, likely going through the joint.

I decided that there was no need to waste any more arrows then. I threw my pebble on the creature's back, then appeared right on top of its massive build.

So up close, it was much bigger than I had thought.

My knife found the back of its head at that moment. Spectre’s Dignity paired with a stab coming from my clock-arm and subsequently enhanced with Trick Shot’s Minor Perk’s buff, Nasty Trick, was more than enough to dig through its Tough Hide and to cut through the cartilage of its neck.

The creature fell to the ground, immobile.

It had yet to die, but it could not move a muscle.

I whistled and pushed my will toward my connection with Loki.

The Juvenile Netherlion, barely awake, ran at my call.

It seemed taken aback by the massive beast in front of him on which back I was sitting.

“Savage it,” I ordered.

It took time, and it was a gory process, but my young lion managed to eat through the creature’s neck in the end.

It died of blood loss more than the damage, but the results were what I had wished for.

The only thing I had not taken notice of was that our Soul fractions would be halved. Half for Loki, half for me. Still, this seemingly powerful creature had been a joke for the Night Hunter, but the rewards it gave us were enough to hope for another such battle.

The only thing stopping me was the number of arrows I had left and the fact that I could not leave the cave.

Loki (Juvenile Golden Netherlion) (Titan) has earned 11532 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next level 5000/5000.

Loki has leveled up to 6.

Agility + 1, Strength + 1, Willpower + 2.

Loki (Juvenile Golden Netherlion) (Titan) has earned 7854 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next level 6000/6000.

Loki has leveled up to 7.

Agility + 1, Constitution + 1, Strength + 1, Focus + 1.

Loki (Juvenile Golden Netherlion) (Titan) has earned 1854 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next level 1854/7000.

You’ve earned 11532 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next TechnoHunter Level 289.157/330.000.

You’ve earned 11532 Soul fractions. Soul fractions for next Tamer Level 26354/28000.

Looking at his stats, I knew he would really become the king of the jungle.

Loki (Juvenile Golden Netherlion), (Titan), Level 7 (1854/7000)

Health: 100%

Stamina: 85%

Strength: Phantasmic State, Senses

Weaknesses: None

Abilities: Ghastly Senses, Phase

Agility: 8

Constitution: 12

Strength: 9

Focus: 8

Perception: 8

Willpower: 8

“You took that thing down by yourself,” Aisha said.

I automatically aimed my bow at her.

She raised her still-bound arms up, “I just heard the sounds of the battle; I won’t do anything foolish.”

“Good, I wouldn’t want to waste any more arrows."

“You are a monster while it’s full night,” she said. “Those abilities... I saw them only once. When I was really young.”

“Really?” I was sincerely intrigued, “Do tell me about it, don’t mind if in, the meanwhile, I extract the Stone from the monster’s corpse.”

She sat by the cave and commenced shortly after, amid sounds of gore and smells that would undoubtedly attract more creatures.

“I believe I was around five at the time. We were returning from the front, heading to Sundoor with the Empire’s convoys, when the Spectres attacked it.”

I couldn’t help but perk-up my ears at that. Not only had she been near the Emperor, but she had also seen Spectres up close.

“When the Spectres struck us, it was quite clear that we were bound to be wiped out. The night was their realm, and although I don’t recall many of them capable of moving as you do, some others could turn into Ghosts, fade from view, become intangible. Enough to say, they started slaughtering the guards en masse.

For every one of them that fell, at least five-six of us followed. And the Starguard, the Emperor’s Royal Guards were there, and it did not seem to make any noticeable difference.”

“Why were they attacking you?"

“I did not know at the time, but then I found out. It was because of us: my mother, my father, and me. Our family was something that simply did not have to be. So, I’ve never been told the reason, but until now, I believe that the Elves had hired them to wipe us out.”

“The only thing they hadn't taken into consideration was the Emperor’s right arm presence. Lester Teriman.”

My knife stopped.

I had heard that name; it was spoken with terror.

Sundoor’s strongest Flow-user; it was unclear if he was a Thermomancer or something higher, maybe a powerful Ultimate Class or whatever was above that. Information about him was scarce; it was so because whoever spoke of him in ways they shouldn’t, would disappear.

When people spoke about the Empire's might, Lester Teriman was the name they pronounced, even more so than that of the Emperor himself. However, I had no idea how the Emperor was called; beyond the Emperor of the Sun, nobody knew anything about him, nobody I knew at least.

But Aisha continued, “When Teriman stepped forth, the night turned into day. My eyes closed to that display, but I could tell that the Spectres started falling like flies soon after. They had lost their edge with the Shade banished, and with our numbers, the Sunguard could easily whittle them down. I believe not one of them was left to tell the tale of what had happened that night.”

As she finished her story, I took my time to answer. Only doing so as I removed the Stone from the Panther-bear’s corpse.

“That sounded a lot like a warning,” I said as I cleaned Spectre's Dignity with the creature’s thick fur.

“It wasn’t. I don’t need to warn you; you already know that they will find us. The only hope I have is that they did not find whatever village or encampment you came from. Those people are innocent, and so were those young men and women you slaughtered.”

“I know,” I tried not to show even a spark of how I really felt for having to do that, “it was my fault, my mistake, and I shall bear the consequences. But trust me, given a chance, those innocents would have done the same.”

At that point, what was speaking was my instincts of self-preservation. If I let her win that argument, my ego would have fallen apart.

I closed in on her, the point of my nose touching hers.

“We are not so different; we herald the same principles, the only difference between you and me are our positions, so trust me when I say that if you had been on my side of the road, you would have done the same.”

Aisha held her gaze up to me, probably trying to study my unwavering eyes, then she lowered her gaze. I had won.

But not a staring contest; what I had won was the battle of truth.

There was only one reason why she would lower her eyes then; she had seen it. She had placed herself in my circumstances, and she had pictured what would have happened.

And I was right; she would have been forced to do the same things I did. Not only for her but for the love she had for her people, for the love she had of life.

I had proved to her that as much as she tried to be morally superior, the flow of life would have made her give the same answers I had. She had understood that whatever the circumstances of her white birth and my black as coal origins were, only a few shades of grey really divided us.